Index of /python/FlickrWidgt

NAME
FlickrWidgt FAQ - Frequently Anticipated Questions
SYNOPSIS
A man walks into a bar...
DESCRIPTION
Frequently Anticipated Questions.
QUESTIONS
What is this thing?
FlickrWidgt is a simple program that periodically asks the Flickr
servers for a random photograph and displays it in a window on your
ddesktop.
What does it do?
Mostly, it just sits on your desktop and displays images. If the gods
are smiling, you'll see something you like.
You can also click to view individual photos in your web browser,
'favorite' them on the your Flickr account, or post them to your
del.icio.us account.
How do I use it?
Just double click the application to get started.
Why is it so big?
The application is so big because it is not written as an application
"native" to any one operating system. Rather it is written using a set
of libraries, called 'wxWidget', for the GUI bits and a programming
language called 'Python' for the code-y bits.
Each piece can be installed separately on different operating systems
(Windows, MacOS X, Linux, BSD, etc.) which means I can write the
application on one type of machine and have it Just Work (tm) on
another.
The relatively large size of the application happens when it is
"bundled" up into a single binary executable. This means all the
necessary pieces required to make it run are gathered up into one place
and then boiled down to a single file that a user can run without having
to install anything but the application itself. The down-side is that
this process requires adding a lot functionality that would normally be
handled by the operating system in a "native" application.
From a developer's point of view, that's a pretty great feature and a
worth while trade-of. From a user's point of view, it is (hopefully) not
an issue as both diskspace and bandwidth are becoming cheaper and more
prevalent.
Do I need to install Python to use it?
No.
You can just double click the application and it will work. The only
difference it that it may take a little longer to start than other
applications.
Will this work with Konfabulator, now Yahoo! Widgets?
No.
The very first "widget" that I wrote was the Mirror Project Random Image
Widget. Eventually, I decided that I would write a similar application
for Flickr and the two programs could share the same underlying code-y
bits.
Since then Yahoo! bought Konfabulator and renamed it Yahoo! Widgets. I
may eventually rename the application to avoid any further confusion.
Can I filter the images the application displays?
Not yet.
Many photographs on Flickr are tagged with descriptive labels. These
could be checked, before an image is displayed, against a list of
user-defined tags to skip. If there's a match the application would
silently move on and ask for another photo.
It is probably a feature that will be added but I am still thinking it
through.
Is there a Windows version?
Not yet, but there will be.
A Windows binary is the next thing on the list, pending any newly
reported bugs. I have a Windows machine for doing the work; I just need
to finish setting it up and work out any OS-specific bugs.
Once the Windows version is finished, I will bless the FlickrWidgt as
version 1.0 final.
Is the source code available?
Sort of, kind of.
The source code for the FlickrWidgt is not available, at the moment. The
code for the underlying libraries that implements most of the
functionality is.
VERSION
$Id: FAQ.pod,v 1.3 2005/12/31 16:32:55 asc Exp $
DATE
$Date: 2005/12/31 16:32:55 $
AUTHOR
Aaron Straup Cope
SEE ALSO
http://aaronland.info/python/ImageWidget/
http://aaronland.info/python/ImageWidgetDeliciousTool/
http://aaronland.info/python/ImageWidgetSpeechTool/
http://aaronland.info/python/MirrorProjectWidget/
http://www.mirrorproject.com/widget/